Feb 2 2017
Manitou Gold Inc. (the "Company" or "Manitou") today provided an update on plans for its 100% owned Kenwest property.
Manitou Gold, together with its consulting engineers and mining contractor, has prepared a preliminary plan for a bulk sample of the high-grade zone at the Kenwest property.
The high grade zone on the Big Master #2 structure was first discovered in 2011 when the Company intersected 53,700 g/t gold over 0.55 meters at a vertical depth from surface of only 35 meters in drill hole KW-11-26 (see Company's press release dated February 28, 2011). This intersection was successfully followed up by 17 additional holes drilled up to 20 meters both above and below the discovery hole over a 25 meter section of strike.
The Kenwest Property is located 50 kilometers south of Dryden, Ontario and is accessed via provincial Highway 502. Kenwest is comprised of 100% owned patented and leased private lands encompassing 1,500 acres. There are no royalties payable from the Kenwest property. The gold bearing structures hosted at Kenwest continue onto the Company's adjacent Canamerica property, which is comprised of 11,000 acres of 100% owned mining claims. Goldcorp, from whom Manitou purchased the Kenwest property, is entitled to a one-time payment of $2 million upon commencement of commercial production from the property.
The Kenwest property hosts the historic Big Master Mine, which operated from 1902 until 1905 and again from 1942 until 1943. The Big Master was the main mine around which the historic mining town of Goldrock was founded. Gold mineralization at the Big Master Mine was contained in two parallel quartz filled shear structures, known as the Big Master #1 and Big Master #2 zones. Since the mine's closure, the Kenwest property had never been systematically explored.
Manitou conducted exploration of the Kenwest property between 2010 and 2012. This work included drilling 104 holes through the Big Master #1 and Big Master #2 zones. Drilling conducted over a strike length of 1 kilometer and to a maximum depth of 300 meters indicates that both the #1 and #2 structures display continuity and gold mineralization along strike and at depth. The structures are sub vertical and strike north 40° east. The average width of the #2 zone is 2.6 meters. However, in the vicinity of the high grade zone, drill intersections indicate a significant widening. Both the #1 and #2 structures remain open along strike and at depth.
The current plan for collecting the bulk sample at Kenwest involves developing a 150 metre-long ramp down along the Big Master #2 shear structure to access the area directly under the high grade zone. Bulk sampling of the high-grade zone will proceed upward through the zone using the cut and fill mining method to maximize grade recovery. The Company is presently completing the detailed mining and closure plans required as part of bulk sample program permitting. Consultations with relevant Crown Ministries and local stakeholders have begun and will continue until a permit is issued.
"I am very excited to be advancing the Kenwest property into test mining," stated Richard Murphy, President and CEO of Manitou Gold. "While we have planned the ramp development to directly follow the Big Master #2 gold structure, I am particularly enthusiastic about getting into the high grade area from which the discovery drill core was recovered" Several maps and sections illustrating the Kenwest project and results are available on the Company's website at www.manitougold.com.
While the Company prepares the necessary plans and studies to achieve a bulk sampling permit, management is also reviewing potential acquisition opportunities that could bring shareholders exposure to more advanced gold properties.
Richard Murphy, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person who prepared the scientific and technical disclosure herein.